Page 156 of Never Die for a Sinner
“Never mind that,” her grandmother says, brushing the question off with a wave of her hand. “Who’s your friend, Ava? Don’t be rude.”
Ava’s cheeks flush so bright, you’d be able to see them from space.
“Uh, Gran, this is Levi. My, uh . . .”
“Boyfriend,” I finish for her smoothly, offering the old woman a smile as I step forward.
Ava gawks at me, eyes wide, but Gran lets out a triumphant little wolf-whistle.
“Finally,” she grins. “You must be the Cross boy. She’s told me all about you—”
“No, I haven’t,” Ava lies, embarrassed. I can’t help but smirk at her. It’s cute, in anI want to tie her down and fuck her until she agrees to be mine foreverkind of way.
Gran doesn’t miss a beat. “You know, I’ve been telling her she needs to date you for a long time.”
Interesting.
Ava shoots me a look that could peel paint off a car.
“Gran,” she groans, her voice laced with mortification. I chuckle under my breath, moving over to the side of the bed.
“Is that right? You and I should talk, Gran,” I say, giving the old woman a wink.
“Let’s not,” Ava mutters, hiding her face behind her hands.
“I can see where Ava gets her good looks from,” I add, and Gran gives a tired but genuine smile. It reaches her eyes this time—but only just. There’s a heaviness behind it, a shadow of weariness that I couldn’t see the last time I saw her.
It hits me then. She looks worse. Paler. Smaller. Like the sickness is winning, and she knows it.
A knot tightens in my gut. I wonder—not for the first time—what it’ll do to Ava when she’s gone.
Gran’s all I have left . . .
“For you,” I say, handing her the pink roses in my hand. Ava said they were her favorite. I don’t know much about how tokeep a woman happy, but I do know most like flowers. Why the fuck do you think I picked up lilies for Ava?
“Leviwanted to meet you,” Ava says, brushing past me. “I tried to talk him out of it.”
“Oh, please,” Gran waves her hand. “I’m a national treasure. Of course, he’d want to meet me.”
Ava starts to speak, but a knock at the door interrupts whatever she was about to say.
“Ava, good to see you,” says a woman in scrubs as she walks in, clipboard in hand. I assume she’s a nurse—probably mid-forties. She stops dead in her tracks when she sees me.
“Oh, I wasn’t aware you’d brought someone with you.”
“Levi Cross,” I say, reaching out to shake her hand.
Her cheeks flush slightly, and she gives me a quick, appreciative once-over before smiling. “Well, aren’t you the charmer?” she teases, stepping back. “You must be Ava’s boyfriend.”
“No,” Ava chimes, but everyone ignores her.
“Yes.”
Ava lets out a strangled sound, her mouth opening in horror as her blush deepens.
The nurse chuckles. “Well, Mr. Cross, it was a pleasure to meet you. Ava, can I steal you for a moment? I’ve got some treatment information to go over.”
Ava looks at me, her expression tightening with concern.
